Reduced serotonin transporter–availability in obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD)

Abstract.We investigated the availability of brain serotonin transporters in 10 drug–free patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) and age–matched healthy controls in vivo using single–photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and the radioligand [123I]–2β–carbomethoxy–3β–(4–idiophenyl)-tropane ([123I]β–CIT). For quantification of regional serotonin transporter a ratio of specific to non–specific [123I]β–CIT–binding was used. The availability of serotonin transporter was calculated using regions of interests (ROI) for thalamus/hypothalamus, midbrain, brainstem (highest density of serotonin transporter) and cerebellum as a reference. The mean specific to non–specific [123I]β–CIT binding ratios in the thalamic/hypothalamic ROI were 4.95 ± 0.57 (OCD patients), and 5.48 ± 0.87 (control group). The mean ratios in the midbrain ROI were 3.51 ± 0.45 (OCD patients) and 4.89 ± 1.23 (controls) and in the brainstem ROI the ratios were 2.38 ± 0.76 (OCD patients) and 3.53 ± 1.01 (controls). This in vivo finding of significant reduced serotonin transporter availability in midbrain/brainstem using [123I] β–CIT SPECT further supports the serotonin deficit hypothesis of OCD.

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